“Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” (John 8:34-36)

In case you didn’t catch that the first time you read it, let me repeat it again:

“Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin...” - Jesus

Jesus said that, and in the most ‘assured’ way. (I mean the letters are in ‘red’ in my Bible!) And He didn’t just leave it at that, either. Did you notice how He goes on to say that a ‘slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever’?

Oh, but you’ve been taught that we are all sinners saved by grace and we will always continue to sin. May I encourage you to read the first four paragraphs here once more, please?

Oh, but you were told that as ‘Christians’...we are ‘saints who sin’? May I encourage you to read the first four paragraphs here once more, please?

Oh, but you’ve been told that ‘nobody is perfect nor can anyone live a sinless life on this side of heaven’? May I encourage you to read the first four paragraphs here once more, please? And this time, you might want to throw Matt. 5:48, 1 John 2:6; 3:6,9; & 5:18 into the mix.

Oh, I forgot...we’ve been told that when we ‘accept Christ as Savior...our spirit is saved, but we will always have this sinful-flesh nature to contend with...until we get to heaven’. Have you by chance marked or underlined the following verses in your Bible- Rom. 6:1-7,18,20,22; 8:13-14; 1 Pet. 4:1-2 & Gal. 5:24?

Oh, so you want to ask me now: “Tony...are you saying you don’t sin?” And I would respectfully and humbly tell you...that what I do...or don’t do...really doesn’t matter. What matters is: What does God’s word say?

Now if you want, you can go dig up some thick, dusty commentaries, or search online, maybe talk to some ‘respected’ ministers in your town with the hopes that any of those resources will confirm to you that all those verses I just shared with you ‘don’t really mean what they say’; but I would also remind you that we already saw how that scenario plays out back in Gen. 3:1-5.

God said one thing (Gen. 2:17) and the ‘serpent’ pops up questioning the validity of those words spoken by God (‘has God really said...?) and then with some added and creative twisting of words, he spins ‘another gospel’ that said just the opposite of what God had first said...most assuredly. And we’ve been suffering for that ever since (Rom. 5:12)

Thankfully, God sent Jesus into the world to rectify that problem and all the fallout of that first gross error when Adam and Even were duped into believing that God did not really mean what He says. That’s why His ‘gospel’ is such wonderfully good news. But we are also warned to be on guard against ‘other gospels’ popping up that do the same thing and deceive others...’just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’ (2 Cor. 11:3-4,14-15; Gal. 1:6-9).

I really don’t know what is happening inside of you about now as you read through this, but I would not be surprised at all if there is some kind of ‘conflict’ waring inside of you, which I totally understand. Trust me...this has been quite the process for me as well over the last number of years. Truth be told, it was that passage in John 8 that stopped me in my tracks one early Sunday morning about four years ago that eventually served as a ‘trigger’ to begin posting these daily blog/lessons.

When the reality of this truth begins to set in, I liken it to coming out of a ‘deep sleep’ as you begin to ‘clean out the cobwebs’ and the urgency of the hour begins to hit you; probably like what those ten virgins experienced when they were aroused from their slumber at midnight, back in Matt. 25:1-13.

Think in terms of oversleeping and then waking up late to realize you have a major exam at school to take in ten minutes, or an important job interview that you really need to be at. Or how about waking up and realizing, God forbid, your home is on fire and you need to scramble quickly in order to save the lives of your family. But friends...what I am talking about here is even of greater urgency, seriousness, and more important. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.

The past two days, we’ve been studying this idea of spiritual blindness, people being ‘in the dark’...and ‘not knowing where they are going’. (John 12:34-35). We read how we all, at one time were ‘sitting in darkness...and saw a great light’ (Matt. 4:16). Yes, Jesus was, and continues to be...that ‘light’, which is another way to say He is the “Truth” (John 8:12; 14:6). And the hardest thing for me to wrap my head around is how many people simply have no interest in ‘coming to the light (truth)’ (John 3:19-21).

Then, I read Paul’s chilling words in 2 Thess. 2:9-12, giving us a heads up that in the latter days, after there is a great ‘falling away’ (3) where many who are ‘perishing’... perish because “they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for THIS reason (not receiving the truth)...”God...will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” (And what is 'truth' supposed to do? - John 8:32)

I’m pretty confident that I know what that ‘lie of deception’ may be, and sadly...it is declared from the majority of church pulpits today: It tells us we can’t really....be free of sin on this side of heaven. And if you are looking for the crowds, or 'majority' to comfort you in that lie, there will be no shortage of them (Matt. 7:13-14, 21-23). More tomorrow...Lord willing.